With time in office winding down, Gov. Patrick keeps up fundraising efforts

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By Matt Murphy

southcoasttoday.com

By Matt Murphy

Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Updated Dec 20, 2013 at 3:53 PM

By Matt Murphy

Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Updated Dec 20, 2013 at 3:53 PM

» Social News

Gov. Deval Patrick may not be running for re-election - or for president - but the Democrat's fundraising apparatus is still humming at a time when 2014 candidates are scrounging for dollars from a weary donor base.

Since stepping off a plane from Singapore on Wednesday morning, Patrick has attended two fundraisers in as many nights benefiting his federal Together PAC, established to finance his travels around the country, and his state committee.

End-of-year fundraisers are a hallmark of the holiday season as politicians try to collect checks from donors before the calendar turns and contributions limits are reset, but Patrick's fundraising also comes as candidates for governor and other statewide offices are trying to tap into a donor set that has been fielding requests on a nearly endless cycle of special elections across the state.

"We have just had such an amazing string of political contests over the last few years. Thank God Democratic donors are very generous. It's never easy to raise money. We're very grateful for the folks who help support the governor's political activities," said John Walsh, who stepped down this year as chairman of the Democratic Party to run Patrick's political action committee and state committee.

Philip Johnston, a prominent Bay State Democrat, helped organize an event at the UMass Club on Wednesday night for Patrick's Together PAC, gathering 30 to 40 people at Franklin Street venue where Patrick visited the night he returned from a trade trip to Asia.

"I think he needs resources to tell Massachusetts's story around the country and there's a good story to tell," Johnston said. "He's still got 13 months to go. It's not like Deval Patrick is going to disappear after January of next year. He's going to remain an active key player in the country and his success in Massachusetts will translate to success in the future."

That said, Johnston acknowledged that fatigue may be setting in for reliable donors who have helped support candidates from the local level to the statewide U.S. Senate races that have followed from the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy to the elevation of John Kerry to secretary of state.

"We're getting tuckered out. It's just been a lot of fundraising for the past five years. It doesn't stop and it's not just fundraising. It's field too," Johnston said.

On Thursday night, Patrick and First Lady Diane Patrick hosted their annual holiday fundraiser at the Fairmont Copley hotel. Tickets to the event sold for $100 to $500, with proceeds going to the Deval Patrick Committee, while guests could pay $1,000, $2,500, or $5,000 for a private reception prior to the main event, with checks going to the governor's Together PAC.

Asked what plans he had for the money he would raise, Patrick said, "What I have been doing, which is moving around the country and around the state and telling the story of what we've been doing here and the importance of grassroots campaigning and governing for the long term."

Patrick recalled being impressed after sitting down with the prime minister of Singapore and hearing about how government in that country was making plans for 10 to 15 years in the future.

"That's exactly the kind of model I believe is right, that I believe is lacking in much of American governance and what we've tried to do differently in Massachusetts," Patrick said.

Records filed with the Federal Elections Commission show the Together PAC with a balance of $303,683 through October, while Patrick's state committee had $88,434 in cash on hand as of Dec. 15, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Walsh said the governor's fundraising team is paid through a combination of federal PAC and his state committee funds. Though 90 percent of operating expenses are covered through the federal PAC, Walsh said it was necessary to maintain a balance in the state account, even though Patrick does not plan to run for state office in 2014.

"The basic reason is that we still do state activities. We still go out and support state legislators. We do work on the governor's agenda here in the Commonwealth, but most of our raising and spending is for the federal PAC," Walsh said.

The governor's holiday event, according to Walsh, is the only major fundraiser on the calendar to benefit the state committee. "If you look at it, he has substantially taken his foot of the gas. This is not the pace of a re-elect campaign," Walsh said.

For the most part, Patrick has used the funds from the Together PAC to pay staff expenses and to finance his travel around the country, which has taken him to states like New Hampshire, Georgia, Illinois and Missouri to speak to Democratic groups. Though Patrick has done some campaigning for federal candidates - like newly-elected Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey - his PAC has not opened the doors to helping finance candidates for federal office.

Walsh said Patrick's preference for keeping a full-time fundraising team in place to maintain his federal and state accounts underscores the governor's commitment to keeping a "bright line" between his State House office and his political operation.

Though the Together PAC has not been used as a tool to finance other candidates, Walsh suggested he and the governor may give it some consideration next year as President Barack Obama and national Democrats look to make gains during the mid-term election.

"We're actively thinking about what 2014's plan is going to be. We haven't made any decisions," Walsh said.

Despite the donor fatigue, Johnston predicted money would be there both for Patrick and for the Democratic candidates for statewide and federal office in 2014, including U.S. Sen. Edward Markey who faces a re-election campaign a year after winning the special election to replace Kerry.

"The governor has a great story to be told. I think it's all good for Massachusetts, for the business community and the workforce, so during his final months in office, to the extent that he needs help to do that, a lot of us think it's worth supporting him. Were also big fans of Deval Patrick," Johnston said.